I wrote: 'I hope I die before I get old...but I don't feel old yet

In The Who's 1965 rock anthem My Generation, Pete Townshend wrote: "I hope I die before I get old". He recently turned 80 yet the star says he feels like a new man.

- SIOBHAN McNALLY

Or at least part of him does.

Townshend says: “That song wasn't a state of mind - it was a threat! I don't feel old, I just got a new knee.”

But although he’s not planning to retire just yet, Townshend admits The Who's days on the road are numbered.

Some 58 years since they first performed in America, The Who will play their farewell US tour, aptly titled The Song Is Over, this summer.

Townshend says: “It’s certainly the end of touring in America. I asked Roger [Daltrey, the lead singer] if it's the end of touring Europe, and he said, “We'll have to wait and see’.”

Speaking to This Cultural Life on BBC Radio 4, Townshend reflects on his wild man of rock persona - he was known for trashing guitars on stage and wrecking hotel rooms.

Even at 80, he has an edge, he reveals. “I feel like a diamond with a flaw. I am a dangerous f***er.

“I was a proponent of rock and roll as a philosophy. But when I started exploring my inner darkness on stage, my stage persona - smashing guitars and turning it all up - I was very detached and I didn't enjoy doing it.”

He also acknowledges that after years of a long-running feud with his bandmate Daltrey, 81, the balance of power between them has shifted.

Townshend says: “It was always me who said, ‘I reserve the right to stop, and I've stopped twice - once for 11 years when I worked with Faber and Faber as a book editor.

“So I always thought I was holding the cards - but I think Roger holds the cards now.”

The pair met at West London's Ealing Art College in 1964 and Daltrey asked him to join his band The Detours, which later became The Who.

Townshend was planning on being an artist and saw The Who as an art project as much as a pop band.

He says: “What was difficult was the other three members didn't [feel that way].”